Rick Rose

Rick Rose was born in Richmond, VA in 1927. He was of Portuguese descent and had a calling to the sea from a young age. He joined the merchant marines for his first real job and was able to travel the world as a result. At one point he managed to find himself in a Russian jail and had his throat slit from ear to ear. He was a no-nonsense person, and had a great scar to prove it.

The merchant marines brought him to Hawaii and he settled in Honolulu in the early 1960’s where his professional fishing career began. His first fishing boat was the Judy Ann which was in Honolulu at first. It was actually one of the first charter boats ever out of Kewalo Basin. Shortly after moving to Oahu he decided it was too busy, and in the mid 60's he brought the Judy Ann to Lahaina along with his growing family.

Judy Ann was sold in order for Rick to upgrade to something larger, and it sadly sunk shortly after being sold. Rick went through many boats in Lahaina including the Happy Hooker and the Reel Hooker (both names his wife came up with!). By 1978 Rick had established the Aerial fleet which became one of the most well known charter operations in Maui.

He grew the fleet to include Aerial 1,2,3, and then moved to Kona where he acquired Aerial 4 which was his baby. From that point forward, Rick made the fertile fishing grounds of Kona his primary focus and fished religiously out of Honokohau harbor. In the meantime Aerial 1,2,3 stayed in Lahaina and were run by son Chris. Chris was the captain for the family from that point on and his other son, Kurt, followed in his father's footsteps as a lure craftsman.

Rick had many many notable catches before his passing. To this day, Rick has 2 fish at the Smithsonian; a lantern fish and a prehistoric Alligator looking fish. He found them both floating in the open ocean while out on a fishing trip...so he didn't personally catch them, but they are significant in that both we’re believed to be extinct and neither had been found in the Pacific prior to him coming across them. Rick personally angled a 1711lb black marlin in Kona in the early 90's, which to this day is the largest black marlin ever caught in Hawaii. He also personally caught an 1100+ blue marlin which is currently mounted at a friends house in Kihei.

Another notable catch of his was in 1985, during the filming of an early episode of the legendary Hawaiian fishing show, "Fishing Tales" with Mike Sakamoto. Rick drove the Aerial 4 while his granddaughter Kim angled a 545lb marlin.

As a captain, Rick Rose presided over the capture of no less than 3 additional granders. No matter what harbor he was at, Rick was known as a hard ass captain….and he was certainly not afraid to let his deckhands (or clients) have it if they weren’t on their A-game! Rick lived to fish and was on the water constantly. He always prided himself as being the first person to leave the harbor and the last one to come back.

It is sadly fitting that Rick passed away in 2000 of melanoma. He fished right up until he passed, and in his later years became a massive advocate of sunscreen, a prime demonstration of his character and care for those around him.

(Source: Kim Rose, Rick's daughter)

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